HOUSE POTATO.

Reuse, recyle and `Remix'

`Everyone has stuff they can reuse," said Karen McAloon, host of HGTV's "Design Remix," which debuted Saturday.

"People have such a habit to go for a complete look from a retailer," she said in an interview last week. "It lacks individuality."

McAloon recommends combining new and vintage pieces, "so instead of having a guest looking around a room and saying, `Oh, that's Pottery Barn,' you have what no one else is going to have."

"That's style to me," she said. More importantly, "that's the difference between fashion and style."

McAloon brings her philosophy to the fast-paced "Design Remix," mining homeowners' basements, closets and garages for castoffs that can be transformed into eye-catching gear.

On the first episode, McAloon and her crew modify an attic (that looks like it was being used as a junk room) into a guest room retreat. The young homeowners want a modern look, so McAloon creates a hip and eclectic theme, repeating the words "hip" and "eclectic" so many times that I lost count. (Hopefully, this error will not be replicated in upcoming "country family room" and "art deco dining room" episodes.) And in spite of a cheesy room divider fashioned out of a white picket fence, the outcome yields a chic, yet inviting, hideaway.

The big stunner is the budget -- $50 plus paint -- maybe one of the lowest on TV. Kudos to HGTV for finally realizing that most people can't afford Candice Olson's makeover binges on "Divine Design."

McAloon is OK with that, though. "Take inspiration from that $4,000 chair you see in a magazine," she advised. "Make it your own . . . Go to a salvage yard or a garage sale."

But the most powerful alteration comes with paint, she said. "It's the quickest and easiest way to give a room new punch. It's cheaper than remodeling or getting new carpeting."

She admits that people can be "a little freaked out by the change [in experimenting with color]."

"Don't be afraid. It doesn't have to be permanent," she said. "You can always change it back."

Spud falls off couch, rolls over remote

Just in time for New Year's resolutions, the January issue of House Beautiful has suggestions on "Putting It Away," from storage boxes, file totes and a wardrobe that can double as a media cabinet. The magazine also has several articles on decorating small spaces.

----------

Carmel Carrillo is assistant editor of Real Estate. You may contact her at ccarrillo@tribune.com, or write to her at Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.